Hungry Lucy, one of America's best "goth-tronica" bands, have released their third and strongest album to date entitled To Kill a King (HLCD003, 2004). Fans of Hungry Lucy's earlier albums Apparitions and Glo will be highly pleased with this third outing. Hungry Lucy, who are War-N Harrison (instrumentation) and Christa Belle (vocals), have lost none of the dark charming moodiness that have made their first two albums such huge indie successes.

This time around, the arrangements and music are even better. The tone of the songs on the album drift from the ethereal to the folksy to the ambient/elctronic/trip hop realm. To Kill a King shows a marked development in the songwriting of the group and explores new territory. "Rainfall" is, melodically speaking, one of the best songs on the album. With catchy acoustic guitar rifts and a gurgling electronic backdrop, Christa Belle's innocent and clear voice, sounding very much like Candice Night of Blackmore's Night rides prettily over the dreamy soundscape.

The brooding "Softly" is a wonderful blend of 4AD gothica with light touches of American-western slide guitar--ingenious stuff. In "The Chase," Hungry Lucy have crafted something that would sit comfortably in the Suzanne Vega milieu, but with a special pinch of otherworldliness that one might hear on a Love Spirals Downwards album. A suprise on the album is the largely instrumental number "A Lifetime Remains." A melancholy and introspective piano line is occassionally interrupted by strange and rich bellowing sounds as though a large bird were flapping its wings overhead. This song is both musically interesting and displays Hungry Lucy's more innovative side.

The lush ambience of "Shine" is a swinging/trip-hoppy tender piece that incorporates ethnic percussion and Indian flavors. "My Beloved" is almost hymn-like with epic and sweeping organ swaths. Although the music is uplifting and hopeful, the song never sounds contrived or overwrought.

Never ones to slack in the remix department, To Kill a King includes four bonus mixes. And fortunately these mixes rock! The F9 Mix of "The Chase" is pure 80's retro-clash fun. Pusling beat and rolling bass-line convert this song into a New Order-esque synth joy. The F9 Mix of "Shine" is equally successful, but more modern sounding in its invocation of Delerium-styled arpeggiation. The Null Device Mix of "You Are" is a dark piece of stabbing synthetic lines and punching beat that retains a gothic bent. Finally, the Trigger10D Mix of "To Kill a King" hovers on the border of deep-house. Anyone that thinks Hungry Lucy are all sweeping sorrow should check these remixes out.

Hungry Lucy improve with each album. To Kill a King is a very finely-done album and notable contribution to the genre of female-fronted bands. - Russ Elliot/Justin Elswick

Hungry Lucy is the collaboration of Christa Belle and War-N Harrison of Fishtank # 9. After a couple of praised and noticed compilation appearances, here comes finally the long awaited full length album... &quot;Apparitions&quot; takes you on a dark trip-hop journey hovering between melodic low-tempo electronics and ghostly emotional female vocals. The mysterious depth and subtle innocence of Christa Belle's sombre lyrics give a certain gothic twist to the modern electronic compositions. If comparisons will probably be made with Portishead or even Switchblade Symphony, the strong identity of Hungry Lucy makes them stand out as different and unique. The trip-hop rhythm arrangements are surrounded with lush melodic avantgardish orchestrations, creative electronic loops and shimmering atmospheres, while the catchy vocals delicately merge with the music. &quot;Apparitions&quot; is a splendiferous symbiosis of emotions that can't leave you unaffected and can appeal to a rather wide audience (from the modern goth wave listener to the trip-hop goer through any romantic synth pop lover). Next to the great comp tracks that are &quot;Bound In Blood&quot; and the Depeche Mode cover of &quot;Blue Dress&quot;, other essential songs definitely include the moving opening &quot;Alfred&quot;, the deliciously tuneful &quot;Stretch&quot; or yet the fragile &quot;Bed Of Flames&quot;. We'll also notice remixes by the band themselves, but also by Battery and Heavy Water Factory. All this said, you will understand that this disc has been on heavy rotation on my cd player since its release and that your turn has come to put your hand on this essential album with immediacy. A must have! (TSF:9/10). - TSF

Featuring War-N Harrison of Fishtank 9, this album takes Harrison's penchant for fluid programming and merges it with triphop rhythms and lovely female vocals courtesy of Christa Belle. The resultant sound recalls an elektropopped version of Portishead, with an intriguingly dark atmosphere.The haunting refrain of "Alfred" opens the disc in a strikingly catchy manner, while Hungry Lucy expands its approach through the mellow Love Spirals Downward-esque "Cover Me," in which lethargic bass rumbles and sparkling piano tinkles entwine with the soothing vocals. HL also covers Depeche Mode's "Blue Dress," which is bolstered with a rhythm that rides like a jagged hypodermic needle, while the dispossessed vocals flutter over top. The best track is the upbeat "Bound In Blood," which is vaguely reminiscent of Ivoux in atmosphere, and its sister band Battery in terms of the bouncier rhythm and synth bashing. I dig this brand of dark triphop/pop, as it merges mood, personality, and depth with infectious catchiness and body-moving rhythms.

Hungry Lucy began by chance in 1998 when War-N Harrison (Fishtank No.9) was asked to contribute to a Depeche Mode tribute album. War-N asked vocalist/lyricist Christa Belle to record vocals for the song "Blue Dress". The couple found they worked together so well that Hungry Lucy was born.

After spending a year writing and recording, the Autumn of 2000 saw the release of Hungry Lucy's debut CD, "Apparitions". The album garnered much attention across the US and Europe for it's combination of pop song structures, trip hop grooves and Christa's haunting vocals & other-worldly lyrics. This attention of this debut CD lead to a licensing deal with Belgian label Alfa Matrix and subsequent European relase of Apparitions:Revisited in Fall of 2001.

After spending Spring and early summer of 2002 performing live, Hungry Lucy completed their next full length album entitled "Glo". Glo captures all the elements that Hungry Lucy are known for while continuing to explore other genres such as jazz, blues and europop. Once again, the album received critical acclaim and glowing reviews worldwide and expanded Hungry Lucy's reach to a much wider audience.

In the Summer of 2003, Hungry Lucy embarked on a tour with Pittsburgh's ThouShaltNot across the Western and Midwest regions of the United States. This gave people of chance to see, as well as hear, what Hungry Lucy is all about. True to form, Hungry Lucy delivered stunning performances along with sychronized video accompanyment. Several one-off shows in late 2003 / early 2004 (including performances with Cruxshadows & Wolfsheim) followed. In Spring of 2004, it was time to head back into the studio and capture the new material Hungry Lucy had compiled over the preceding months.

The result, Hungry Lucy's 3rd full-length CD, "To Kill a King" brilliantly displays the duo's passion for musical contrast and clever songwriting. Hungry Lucy completed a successfuly US tour in support of "To Kill a King" in April/May of 2005. After a year of writing and recording, the duo released the EP "Before We Stand ... We Crawl" in July, 2006.

In the Circle

Written By: Christa Belle

The wind will drift and spread the flameA spark will land inside your heartYou will never be the sameAs ashes tear your life apartTragedy can make us strongerBut cannot be undoneIf you wish it, it will happenFates aren't sealed for everyone

It flickers in the circleA dance of life for youIt's safer in the circleWhere visions remain true

So often people judge thoseThat they do not understandThe innocent are dyingAt those judging hateful handsIf only we could show themWe do not wish them harmInstead we'd like to live lifeInside each other's open arms

We sparkle in the circleThere's fire in our eyesSo much magick in the circleWe're in need of no disguise

Be with me in the circleYou're always welcome hereIt's safer in the circleBut do not bring your fearI'll meet you in the circleWithin your own good timeI'll be here in the circleForever with you intertwined

Shine

Written By: Christa Belle / War-N Harrison

You’ve got to fight for itAfter all it’s yoursDon’t let the worldPush you downInto its’ corePlease don’t cryWhat’s done is doneYou can only fix yourselfYou can never changeThe other ones

Shine this light down on me foreverMy open eyes are so aliveBreak through these walls that leave me uselessAll of my fears have gone away

The pain is over nowAnd the wounds are healedThey clipped your wingsBut now you seeWhat’s been revealedLook to the skyDraw down the moonFill your life with silver dreamsSpin a secret spellYou’ll find it soon

A Girl Alone

i lost you in the darki lost your beating hearti lost you to the yearsi lost you through my tearsso often i cry for youdo you cry for me too?

As the snow begins to falldarkness traps me in her wallslonging to see your facedare i imagine

Did you know my namemy face a whithered framei'm not what you have knownyou're a girl alone

We Won't Go

Written By: Christa Belle / War-N Harrison

are they really hereor just in my mind (in her mind)oh and can you feel the fearof what lies behind their eyesthey came from the wallsthey tortured us alland drove us away from our home

here in the nightthey are calling my name(so she goes)there is no wrong or rightbut i'm losing this game(and she knows)what can we dowhat can we say(they don't know)if it wasn't for youwe would not run away(but they go)

by the garden gatei sit with my brotheri just hope it's not too latefor my father and mothershall we go back insidethere's no reason to hidewe can fight and take back our home

they say that when the wolves come out of the walls, it's all over.but it's not all over, coz we won't go. We won't go!

here in the nightthey are crying in pain(and she knows)everything is alrightwe did not fight in vain(they won't go)we know what to doand we know what to say(now they know)there's no power in youwe will not run away(we won't go)

To Kill a King

Written By: Christa Belle / War-N Harrison

On the other sideOf these castle wallsLies a world I’m not a part ofForbidden to even think for myselfDared to step outside the lineFor fear of torture

I always wanted to knowHow to kill a kingUse his madness against himForsake everythingThough his grip is so tightAnd it’s choking meI will find a way outOf this loyalty

Just when I thought I wasRunning out of timeThe King stood trembling at my bedsideHe said “if you leave me now,My suicide will follow”And I said “what are you waiting for?”

Now I knowHow to kill a kingNow he suffers in silenceWith a poisonous stingHe could not steal my mightAnd it seems to beI have found a way outOf his loyalty

I know that I can surviveOutside this cageMaybe now I can fight throughAll this rage

I’m so glad I knewHow to kill the KingI tore down the boundariesAnd took off the ringTo reap what you sowIs how it should beThere’s no one left on the throneOf this royalty